ALT-3 History of Valentines Day
As many of you know, Valentine's Day is named after a Saint Valentine. However, no one is sure of who this Saint Valentine was, or even what he did to deserve this holiday in his name.
The most accepted legend has it that the holiday came about from a prisoner named Valentine, a Bishop of Interamna, who sent the first Valentine greeting for a girl whom he supposedly cured of blindness. He was supposedly put in jail because he preached the word of a Christian God underground, after Claudius put a ban on this (meridiangraphics.net). In time it is said that he fell in love with the girl who visited him, and is speculated that this girl was the jailer's daughter. Claudius caught wind of this and was furious. He had the man put to death on February 14th around 270 AD. According to history.com, before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today.
Another theory is that during the third century in Rome, a priest with the name Valentine went against Claudius II's decision to outlaw marriage. The reason for this was because Claudius came to the conclusion that married men made poor soldiers because they were unwilling to leave their families. Valentine blessed marriages in secrecy, and upon discovery of this, Claudius had him put to death.
"While some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial - which probably occurred around 270 A.D - others claim that the Christian church may have decided to celebrate Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to 'christianize' celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival" (history.com). The Lupercalia festival was regarded as a time of fertility and purification. As time went on, one of the customs of this festival was a lottery of women, in which would be a man's mate for the duration of the festival (meridiangraphics.net).
By the 17th century, "Valentines" developed into more elaborate greeting cards, which eventually evolved into what we use today to show our love to that special someone. Once chocolate was introduced by the Spaniards, it was only a matter of time before it was coaxed into the indulgance we crave today. Along with such greetings we give candy and other gifts, and Cupid, a cherub armed with a bow and some arrows, is seen as the matchmaker. We see this holiday as a means to show the person we love just how much we care about them.
